JANTAR MANTAR
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Observatory housing measuring instruments for determining the exact position of the Sun, Moon and planets.
The Jantar Matar observatory of Delhi was built by the maharaja of Jaipur Jai Singh II. Passionate about astronomy, he was ordered by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah to update the calendars and astronomical tables. The one in Delhi was the first to be built and dates from 1724. It includes 13 rather obscure measuring instruments. These are large and complex structures that were meant to provide the exact position of the sun, moon and planets. The Jantar Matar has suffered a lot, especially during the Cipayes revolt in 1857. It is much less interesting than the one in Jaipur. However, three instruments have been renovated.
Samrat yantra. This huge rectangular triangle serves as a sundial. 21 meters high, its hypotenuse of 39 meters is parallel to the axis of the earth and points to the north pole. On each side of the base of the triangle, a graduated dial gives the hour, the minutes and the seconds. The tool was used to measure the coordinates of different celestial bodies.
Jayaprakash yantra. These are concave hemispheres with marks on their surface. By stretching threads between different points from the edge, it was possible by aligning a star with one of the marks to define dated windows.
Misra yantra. This instrument was used to measure the longest and shortest day of the year. It could also indicate the time of noon for any city in the world. It is the only instrument that was not invented by Jai Singh II.
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